Abstract :
[en] Deceptive design patterns, also called dark patterns, can be found all over the internet today. These designs are used by website operators to trick users into sharing their personal data or performing other actions that are mostly favorable to the operators. Since taking effect in 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), strictly mandates website operators to inform EU website visitors of how their personal data will be processed. Although they put up cookie banners to disclose such information and ask user’s consent, many website operators have found ways to use deceptive designs, such as confusing design and language, to trick users into giving them their personal data, and pass them on to advertisers that use them to personalize ads and target users. In this thesis, I study different dark patterns on the internet and those in cookie banners and I delve into one of the proposed interventions against dark patterns in previous work, gamification. I hypothesize that it is possible to create a serious game to train online users to respond to dark patterns in cookie banners, so that they can retain most of their personal in- formation without disclosing it to advertisers. In particular, I have conceptualized and developed an online game with five levels that uses game mechanics like feedback, points, levels, badges
and story to make the game educative, engaging and interactive. To evaluate the game, I created a survey and gathered the answers of 54 players and assessed aspects like game clarity of goals and rules, knowledge acquisition, perceived applicability and engagement. I conclude with the analysis of the results obtained, suggesting the gamification is an appropriate and effective tool for training users on how to interact with cookie banners in a way that maximizes their privacy.
